Vine

Sarah Pena

10 October 2013

Blog Post

Creativity using Vine

Social media today has helped people from every part of the world connect with others simply through their sites. Many of these social network sites include but are not limited to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin, Vine, Instagram, youtube, and many others. Unlike most of these social media sites, Vine took interactivity to a different level. The other sites are merely just interactive by sharing words, pictures, youtube videos, or articles they find relevant. With Vine, one can physically respond or share special moments of their lives making it more personal.

Dom Hofmann, Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll founded the app in June 2012. In October of that year, it was acquired by Twitter. It was first only available iOS devices but later became available to android devices. When Twitter acquired Vine, it shared a few aspects including the use of “hashtags,” trends and the concept of followers/ following. The founders’ of the app main goal was to make it easier for people to come together to share and discover what’s happening around the world. The creators wanted their users to focus on the creativity that they are trying to portray in their videos with a limited time of six seconds rather than trying to attempt to navigate on how to use the app itself. Like Twitter, the conciseness of the videos inspires the viners to be even more creative. The creators stated that these short looping videos created are like” little windows into the people, settings, ideas, and objects that make up your life.”

Vine consists of 15 channels that a user can explore. These include the following: Comedy, art and experimental, cats, dogs, family, beauty and fashion, food, health and fitness, nature, music, news and politics, special fx, sports, urban and “wier d.” The categories can either be listed from most popular, on the rise, or just added. There are videos consistently added or reviewed by millions of people everyday.

Many vine users use the app to make collaborations with fellow viners. For instance, one user can share a video of them playing an instrument and another user could post a collaboration with that video of themselves singing or playing another instrument. ( https://vine.co/v/hXLlxVWrlll ) Another example of a collaboration would be where one user could travel or meet up with another user to create a video. (https://vine.co/v/hravTP5EFLF ) These videos could vary from something as simple as someone’s thoughts, something entertaining or someone trying to entertain the viewers with a prank or something of the sort. Some of the popular accounts that have more than one user include LNPD (Late Night Party patrol), Five dudes vining, Unpopular now, 6 second covers, and Now this News.

Though many of these collaborations are available for public viewing, some users prefer to have their videos to be private. This means that the user has to approve of the people who would like to follow or view the videos that they post. Digital identity is created simply by making an account or name on a website and is an important aspect in any social media site. According to Stacey Koosel, “ Digital identity is simultaneously seeking publicity and privacy. The need for attention, the need to share and be a contributing part of the online community, must obviously outweigh the need for privacy.” She also states that, “creating an artificial identity can liberate the Internet user to provide or share select information, without feeling exposed or feel like their privacy has been invaded.” Many people would rather have only their friends and family view their posts. But many others, for multiple reasons like promote awareness or products and such, prefer to have the whole world see their videos.

Vine improves the interaction beyond family, friends and acquaintances. It makes it easier to connect with users worldwide. It has been used for journalism, promoting products, etc. Dunkin Donuts was the first company to use a single vine as an entire television advertisement. (https://vine.co/v/h6t7w1EQJXd) Columbia Records used it to promote Big Time Rush’s new alum coming out. Some users use it to promote causes including breast cancer awareness, meet and greets with “famous” or celebrity viners, national or local events occurring, etc. Vine is an important contribution to social media sites due to the fact that it aids in the interaction between people from around the world and of different cultures. It is a creative and clever too that contributes and promotes several causes and connects people around the world.

Works Cited

Koosel, Stacey M. “Digital Identity: The Private and the Public Paradox.” Transforming Culture in the Digital Age (n.d.): 149-53.